My trip to Renuka Jheel- Himachal Pradesh

Yatri Niwas

Bored up with the routine work I thought of a short weekend trip to some place near Delhi. My brother-in-law who is a doctor by profession suggested that we should go to Renuka Jheel in Himachal Pradesh.  All the family members agreed as   it is a picnic spot and it has got some mythological importance as well.  So it was decided to leave Delhi by Friday afternoon and come back by Sunday night so that on Monday everybody could attend to their respective jobs. We all got ready by Friday afternoon left Delhi by 2 ‘o’ clock.  We had a plan to stay the night at KalaAmb and proceed on our journey next day early morning.  As we were just three KM away from Kala Amb we got a call from back home, my niece (daughter of my sister in law) who did not accompany us due some of her project work suddenly fell sick.  We were all very much worried.  We could not ask the driver who had been driving for seven hours to drive back such a long distance again as he was already very much tired.  We stopped the car, my brother-in-law called one of his doctor friends and asked him to go and check the girl at home.  It turned out to be a case of low BP.  His friend and his wife took her to their house and took care of her. As we could not go back we proceeded further and reached Black Magic a Hotel where we were supposed to stay the night.  There was some misunderstanding and our rooms were not booked there.  We then went to Yatri Niwas where we had alternate arrangement. 

Next day we got up very early in the morning and made a call back home to find out the condition of my niece.  She was better and her BP was normal.  We were all very much relieved to hear the news. We all had Parathas with achar and Dahi for breakfast and left the place for Renuka. Here onward our journey was uphill.  The weather was good and we enjoyed our ride. As we climbed up the hill we could see the terrace farming, the cattle grazing here and there on the hills and by 11 ‘o’ clock we reached Nahan.  It is a beautiful town in Shivalik range overlooking lush green valleys and meadows.   A very clean and neat place. It is the head quarters of Sirmour District.  A very familiar place for me as I visited quite often while my sister worked there in Army school.  From Nahan we climbed down the hill into the valley and the scenery was breathtaking.  As we drove down into the valley we could see the Renuka Jheel Project. It is only 37 Km from Nahan.  Renuka Jheel is the largest natural lake in Himachal Pradesh.  The Jheel’s shape is like a sleeping woman. 

Renuka jheel as seen from our vehicle

The legend goes that Renuka was killed by her own son Parasu Ram obeying the orders of his father, sage Jamadagni.  Renuka was a pious and devoted wife of sage Jamadagni.  She used to go to the river, make a pot with the mud fill the water and get home. One day while she was making the pot a king happened to pass by.  He was very handsome and she just glanced at him for a moment and then went on with her work. But the mud would not hold and the pot used to break off.  She frantically tried to make the pot. Sage Jamadagni became restless and wanted to know the cause of her delay.  He closes his eyes and by the inner vision he comes to know what had happened. He immediately called his son and asks him to kill his mother.

Temple -Renukaji

Zoo

Later on Renuka was brought to life by the same sage on the behest of Parasu Ram.  At a later stage Sahasrabahu kills Jamadagni and Renuka kills herself calling her son and Renuka was formed into a lake surrounded by golden corn.  Parasu Ram takes revenge by killing all the kshatriyas including Sahasrabahu from the earth and then performs Ashwamedha Yagna.  That Yagna kund over the years got filled with water and is now called Parasu Ram tal.  It is supposed to be at the feet of Renuka Mata.   A fair is held each year to celebrate the immortality of Renuka and her son. People here strongly believe that both mother and son come there during the fair and quote some instances of seeing them. There is a temple of Renuka Mata and Parasu Ram. There is separate temple for Jamadagni.  Though it is not crowded, there were good number of people visiting this place. It is one of the popular tourist spots in Himachal Pradesh.

There is a small zoo adjacent to the Lake with a good number of animals. We spotted lion,leopard and deer.  

There is another lake called Parasuram Tal at the feet of Renuka jheel.  There are quite big fish in this lake.

People keep feeding the fish in this lake.   Sit by the lake watch the fish and serene surroundings one does not feel like coming back.  Capturing the beautiful sceneries in our camera we set off to our journey back home.  On our way back we stopped at Nahan for a late lunch.  From there we took our route to Delhi via Yamunanagar as the road to Kalaamb was full of potholes and the drive was not very smooth.  We reached home by 12 in the night.   Renuka is a good weekend getaway from Delhi.

                                  (This article is written in 2010)